London Southend Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

London Southend Airport Southend Airport
IATA: SEN - ICAO: EGMC
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		London Southend Airport Company
Serves		Southend-on-Sea
Elevation AMSL		49 ft (15 m)
Coordinates		51°34′17″N, 000°41′44″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
06/24	5,266	1,605	Asphalt

For the airport in Southend, Saskatchewan, Canada, see Southend Airport (Saskatchewan).

London Southend Airport (IATA: SEN, ICAO: EGMC) is a small airport in south east England, in the county of Essex. It mainly operates charter and business flights, and offers maintenance services for the aircraft used for passenger services at larger airports. The airport is closer to Rochford than it is to Southend. A frequent rail service runs from Rochford to London (Liverpool Street) and buses and taxis are available outside the existing terminal.

The airport has planning consent to build a new terminal and railway station on the eastern boundary of the airport, which will provide an integrated transport interchange. This should be operational in 2009.

The only regular public air service is a scheduled flight to Jersey on summer Saturdays. On June 7th 2006, a new regular service commenced between Southend and Cologne. However, this is not available to the public, being operated by based airline Flightline on behalf of a private business for the transportation of its employees, on weekdays only. Aircraft can be chartered from based airlines Flightline, Trans Euro Air and Fly Now Air Charter. 'Southend Handling' can assist companies, groups or individuals in chartering aircraft to or from the airport.

There is activity at the airport from business aircraft, pilot training in both aircraft and helicopters, and recreational flying. The airport employs over 1000 people in companies based on the airport, mostly concerned with the maintenance and re-spraying of airliners, and associated companies. An annual seafront airshow in Southend results in aircraft being based at the airport for the duration of the displays.

A Flightline BAe 146 aircraft lands at London Heathrow Airport. Flightline is a charter airline based at Southend Airport.

Maintenance work at Southend Airport includes re-painting, the renewal of seating, upgrades to avionics and installation of hush-kits on engines and the conversion of passenger aircraft into cargo carriers.

The airport's ambition to restart passenger flights dovetails with Government aims outlined in the White Paper on airport development and the strategic 'Thames Gateway' development. Undoubtedly the airport will have a role to play in supporting the 2012 London Olympics in East London. Whilst a local consultation carried out by the airport showed that most people in the area are in favour of the airport's proposals, a minority of the local population have objections to this. In 2002/3 a debate centered on the possible relocation of a church further away from the side of the main runway. This would have enabled passenger aircraft, of a size already regularly seen at the airport for maintenance purposes only, to offer passenger flights to UK and European destinations.

However, a compromise scheme, that sees the church remain where it is, has now been licensed by the CAA, at the expense of slightly shortening the available runway lengths. This means that passenger flights have been able to be restarted, using aircraft of a size similar to those in already in use both at Southend and at London City airport.

ATC (Lasham) is the major engineering company at the airport, in previous times known as ATEL (Aviation Traders Engineering Limited, founded by the late Sir Freddie Laker of Skytrain fame) and Heavylift Engineering. Other companies include Air Livery, Avionicare, BAC Engineering, Flightline Aircraft Engineering, IAVNA, Inflite Engineering, IPECO and JRB Aviation.

London Southend Airport has an excellent weather record, which means that smaller airliners use it as a diversion alternative when adverse weather or other incidents cause aircraft to divert from either Stansted or London City Airport.

The airport is also popular with film-makers, who find that the airport is able to accommodate their needs better than busier airports.

It has a cafe/lounge for passengers, spectators and private pilots, an information terminal and a photo booth. Some busy pubs and retail warehouses front the road between the air terminal and the town centre. A preserved Avro Vulcan may be seen from the road into Rochford. The vulcan usually undertakes fast taxi runs along the runway once or twice a year. There is no longer a museum at this airport which once reverberated to flying car ferries such as the piston-engined Bristol Freighter.

1 Military history
2 Scheduled destinations
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Military history

The airfield was established by the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. In World War II it became a fighter base for the RAF. Many of the 50 pillboxes, that were design to protect the airport from paratroop landings, still survive, as does the underground defence control room. A further 20 or so pillboxes also remain in the surrounding countryside.

Canewdon, a couple of miles to the north east of the airport, was the location of one of the World War II Chain Home radar stations. One of the 360 foot high transmitter towers can now be seen near Great Baddow (2003).